St. Vartan Armenian Church of
Very Rev. Fr. Hayrik Hovhannisyan,
Pastor
Telephone (905) 549-2711
stvartan@cogeco.ca
(905) 617-7888
Remembrance of the Prophet Elijah
Last Sunday was Pentecost, when we celebrated the arrival of
the Holy Spirit. The Armenian Apostolic Church
has a five-day fasting period immediately following the Feast of Pentecost
called Elijah’s fast, as it coincides with the feast of Commemoration of the
Prophet Elijah – which is being celebrated today.
Elijah’s fast ended Saturday, but do we know who is Elijah and why we are remembering him today? Elijah (in Hebrew), also called Elias (in
Greek), was a prophet of God in the Kingdom of the North, in
In 1st Kings 17:1 Elijah warns the King of Israel, Ahab,
that there will be years of severe drought, so that not even dew will fall
because Ahab and his queen Jezebel have “done evil in the sight of the
Lord.” In particular, Ahab and Jezebel
killed the God’s prophets and encouraged worship of the local nature deity
Baal. Not only did Ahab allow the
worship of a foreign god within the palace, but he built a temple for Baal and
allowed Jezebel to bring a large entourage of priests and prophets of Baal.
After Prophet Elijah’s confrontation with Ahab, God tells
him to flee to a hiding place by the brook Cherith,
east of the
After more than two years of drought and famine, God tells
Elijah to return to Ahab and announce the end of the drought. Elijah proposes to test the powers of Baal
and Yahweh (God). The people of
The people who witness this immediately begin worshipping
Yahweh. Elijah orders the death of the
prophets of Baal. The rains return to
Jezebel is enraged that Elijah ordered the death of her
priests and threatens to kill Elijah (1st Kings 19:1-13). Elijah flees into the wilderness and prays
for death. He falls asleep under a
juniper tree. An angel touches him and
tells him to wake and eat. When he wakes he finds a bit of bread and a jar of
water. He eats and drinks and goes back
to sleep. The angel comes a second time
and tells him to eat and drink because he has a long journey ahead of him. Elijah travels for 40 days and 40 nights to
God again speaks to Elijah (1st Kings 19:9) Elijah shares
his despair and complaints and is told to go outside the cave and “stand before
the Lord.” A terrible wind passes, a
great earthquake shakes the mountain, then a fire passes, but God is not in any
of these. Then a “still small voice”
comes to Elijah and asks again, “What doest thou here, Elijah?” Elijah responds again with his despair and
complaints. God answers by sending him to
Elijah encounters Ahab again in 1sat Kings 21 after Ahab has
acquired a vineyard by murder. God sends
Elijah to confront Ahab and when he tells Ahab terrible things to come, Ahab
repents. However, Ahab’s son Ahaziah sends out three groups of soldiers to arrest
Elijah. The first two are destroyed by
fire which Elijah calls down from heaven.
The leader of the third group asks for mercy and Elijah agrees to
accompany them to Ahaziah.
The Biblical story of Elijah’s departure is unique. A chariot of fire and horses of fire appear
and Elijah is lifted up to heaven in a whirlwind (2nd Kings2:8). Elijah’s is also mentioned in Malachi where
it is said that Elijah will come again before “the great and terrible day of
the Lord.” This is taken to mean that
Elijah will come before the coming of the Messiah.
Are You the Prophet Elijah?
In the New Testament, both John the Baptist and Jesus were
asked whether they were Elijah, as they both preached a similar message of
obedience to the law and worship of the God of Israel. John the Baptist preached a message of
repentance and reconciliation with the law and with God and he warned that the
Day of Judgment was near, using imagery similar to that of Malachi. Finally, he preached that the Messiah was
coming. Plus, John the Baptist looked
like Elijah, in that he wore a coat of hair secured with a leather belt and
also frequently preached in wilderness areas near the
Although Jesus didn’t physically resemble Elijah, he was
associated with miracles like Elijah (e.g. raising of the dead, miraculous
feeding). When Jesus asks his disciples
(in Luke) who the people say that he is, Peter’s answer includes Elijah among
others.
Jesus uses Elijah as an example of rejected prophets, saying
“no prophet is accepted in his own country.”
Elijah makes an appearance in the New Testament during an incident known
as Transfiguration. At
Divine Liturgy @
“I tell you the truth,” he continued, “no
prophet is accepted in his hometown. I
assure you that there were many widows in
Welcome to St. Vartan Armenian Church
If you are a newcomer to St. Vartan,
it is a pleasure to welcome you to our Soorp Badarak
this afternoon. Thank you for making
time in your busy schedule to be with us. We believe that you will sense God’s
Spirit among us as we worship together today.
Requiem services (hokehankist) can
be requested for the next church service by calling Very Rev. Fr. Hayrik Hovhannisyan. A requiem may be requested following the
death of a loved one, 40 days after their death (karasoonk),the yearly anniversary, name day, birthday or Mother’s Day.
Blessing High School, University, and College Graduates
Today, Very Rev. Fr. Hayrik Hovhannisyan will bless our graduating students as they
prepare to take the next step in their life journey.
FATHER’S DAY LUNCHEON
Join us in celebrating FATHER’S DAY on Sunday, June 17,
following Soorp Badarak. Lunch will be available.
Throughout the centuries, Armenians have been known for their incomparable heritage
in culture and the performing arts. We know St. Vartan's
parish is rich with this tradition and we look forward to discovering the St. Vartan Duo Idol. We encourage fathers to show off their
talents with their children by a song, a dance, a poem or playing an
instrument. Please contact Vasken Altounian
at (905) 891 8216 or valtounian@rogers.com to participate in the Talent Show.
The performance would be one act not exceeding four minutes and performers will
be rewarded with loud applause and an enduring memory of a fun event.
You are Dearly Loved
Give Me everything that worries
you, and watch My perfect Love dismantle your fears. Be strong and courageous, realizing that I’m
with you through your struggles. Abolutely nothing is too difficult with Me,
your Friend. I’ll sustain you and will
never let you fall.
Love, Your Ever Present Helper
From Psalm 55:22; 1 John
Are You New to St. Vartan Armenian Church?
At St. Vartan, we understand how
being a newcomer can be a bit intimidating.
It is our goal to make your time with us comfortable and enjoyable. Immediately following the service today
please join us in the church hall for refreshments. We’re glad you’re here and we hope to see you
again! Our next service is at
Are You On Our Mailing List?
Please fill out the forms you can find on clipboards at the
doors of the church today. The Parish
Council needs your help to keep its mailing list up-to-date. Sign up to receive church news by email.
Purpose Driven Life
You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has--with
his wife now having cancer and new "wealth" from book sales. Rick
Warren is Purpose Driven Life author and pastor of
One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end
of my body--but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I
am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act--the
dress rehearsal. God wants us to
practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until
you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.
Life is a series of problems
Life is a series of problems: either you
are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go
into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your
character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy
than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth,
but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in
Christ-likeness.
This past year has been the greatest year of my life but
also the toughest, with my wife Kay getting cancer. I used to think that life
was hills and valleys--you go through a dark time, then you go to the
mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life
being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a
railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in
your life.
No matter how good things are in your life, there is always
something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in
your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus
on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.
If you focus on your problems, you're going into
self-centeredness, "which is, MY problem, MY
issues, MY pain." But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get
your focus off yourself and onto God and others.
We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of
hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy
for her. It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her
character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony,
drawn her closer to Him and to people.
You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of
life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For
instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million
copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety
that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or
notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease. So I began to ask
God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave
me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9
and Psalm 72.
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not
change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases. Second, about midway
through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church. Third, we set up
foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches,
equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next
generation. Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years
since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be
able to serve God for free.
We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for
possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by
pressures? Guilt? Bitterness?
Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's
purposes (for my life)?
When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed
and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth
just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do.
That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.
Mississauga Mayor and Srpazan Hayr Visit
For the fourth year in a row, St. Vartan
Armenian Church introduced the Armenians and their history and culture to the
Mississauga-and-area community.
Several thousand people filled the Armenian Pavilion at
A three-day event, the pavilion featured traditional
Armenian folk dancing by the Sassoun Dance Ensemble
under the direction of Joe Avakian of
On Friday, the Armenia Pavilion had a lively performance by
the Homenetmen Toronto Armenian Scouts Band. On Saturday, the haunting notes of the duduk were heard thanks to the Canadian-Armenian
Association of Music-Horovel Duduk
Group.
The pavilion featured Armenian cooking lessons by Ani Altounian, Katrin Yaldizciyan and Ani Shalvardjian who served up
free samples of lentil balls, jajik, nivek and harissa all weekend
long.
There were other Armenian foods for sale by St. Vartan’s volunteers, like freshly barbequed sjukh and chicken kebabs, eggplant, red kidney bean pate,
green salad, chick pea salad, pea salad with dill, beoreg,
lahmadjoon, kubeba, paklava, khadayif, nazoog and tahin
bread. Cont’d on page 5.
Ani Kerametlian
and her group of volunteers presented an outstanding table of Armenian history
and culture and drew quite a lot of attention from pavilion visitors curious
about who are the Armenians. There were more than 50 men, women, youth and even
children who volunteered at the Armenian Pavilion this year. Twenty-three
pavilions participated in this year’s Carassauga.
A huge annual undertaking that requires months of
preparation, the Armenia Pavilion depends entirely on the hard work and
enthusiasm of St. Vartan’s faithful who generously
volunteer their time and skills.
The goal of the Armenia Pavilion is to raise money for St. Vartan Armenian Apostolic Church of Mississauga’s building
fund. St. Vartan
is actively looking for a property to house its faithful, as it has been
renting facilities since it was established as a parish in 1990 by
Schedule for May-June 2007
DIVINE LITURGY & Activities
Soorp Badarak & Blessing of the Graduates
Soorp Badarak
Father’s Day
Luncheon & Talent Show
Our next Soorp Badarak will be on
Sunday, June 17, at